In-Text Citations

Basic Rules for In-Text Citations

In-text citations are short and sweet. They allow the reader to identify your source, which can be looked up in the complete alphabetical list of Works Cited at the end of the paper. In MLA format the in-text citations appear in parentheses, so are sometimes called PARENTHETICAL CITATIONS.

Here's how to write an MLA in-text citation:

  • In most cases, write the author’s last name, one space, and then the page number, enclosed in parentheses.

  • Put the citation as close to the borrowed material as possible without disrupting the sentence. Citations most often appear at the end of sentences.

  • Put the period ending the sentence AFTER the parenthesis ending the citation. If the quotation itself ends in a question mark or exclamation point, leave that punctuation in and then add a period after the citation.

  • If the name of an author has been introduced in the sentence, often called a SIGNAL PHRASE, you can leave it out of the parenthetical citation. For sources without page numbers, this may mean that you sometimes don't need a parenthetical citation at all.

  • When material from a single source is used throughout several sentences, you may use one citation at the end of the material rather than the same citation at the end of each sentence as long as the origin of the material is clear to the reader throughout. Try introducing the source through a signal phrase at the beginning of the section.

  • Basic information you see over and over again in your sources may be considered COMMON KNOWLEDGE for your topic and does not require a citation. Exceptions include controversial information and statistics. When in doubt, err on the side of caution: ask your instructor or just cite the source.

Don't get tangled up! Citations can feel like a confusing mess, but their role is simple: to let the reader know, by pointing to an entry in the Works Cited list, the original source of any ideas and information you use in your writing.


Source: After by Crumpart under a Creative Commons license

Examples of Common In-Text Citations

These examples cover the most common types of in-text citations. For many more examples, see MLA In-Text Citations from the Purdue Online Writing Lab.

Print source with author in parentheses

  • Perhaps we are fascinated by zombies because they are "liminal beings that fall in between categories" (Shermer 83).

This is the format for a basic parenthetical citation, where "Shermer" points the reader to the correct entry in the Works Cited page.

Print source with author in signal phrase

  • Michael Shermer suggests that our fascination with zombies may be due to their nature as "liminal beings that fall in between categories" (83).

If you name the author in the sentence, you may only need a page number for your citation.

Source without page numbers

  • Initial studies suggest that hands-free voice-activated texting while driving may be just as dangerous as the hands-on variety (Pogue).

  • Pogue argues that hands-free voice-activated texting while driving may be just as dangerous as the hands-on variety.

If you are using a source without page numbers, do not include page numbers in your citation. This is the case for many internet resources. This means that in some cases, if you clearly identify the author in a signal phrase, you may not have a parenthetical citation to accompany the source.

Do not add page numbers to printed webpages as they could change depending on the printer, etc. You can use page numbers for electronic sources if they are unchanging, such as in a PDF file. In some cases, such as an article retrieved from a database, whether you have page numbers will depend on whether you use an HTML or PDF version of the document.

Repeated citations from the same source

  • Although we get our genetic material from both parents, the contributions are not always equal (Moyer 106). New research suggests that some aspects of our brains, like higher cognitive function, may be more influenced by our mothers, while other characteristics are stronger from our fathers (108).

If you are citing the source in multiple citations immediately following each other, you can omit the name and just include the new page number. This happens often when you are discussing a single work, like a piece of literature, in depth. Just make sure it is always clear to the reader where the information is coming from, even if that means repeating a citation. If it feels like you are citing the same source over and over, you may wish to go back and take more notes or find additional sources so that your evidence will be more diverse.

No author identified

  • The debate over fracking may become an irreconcilable showdown between pro-industry and environmental groups ("Fracking").

If you cannot determine the author, substitute the title of the source. Italicize the title if the source is a book or longer work; use quotation marks if the source is an article or shorter work.

You may use an abbreviated version of the title as long as the first word still points you back to the alphabetized entry in the Works Cited page (e.g., "Fracking Pros and Cons: Weighing In on Hydraulic Fracturing" could be cited in the parenthetical as "Fracking" or "Fracking Pros and Cons").

But, before assuming that a webpage has no author, do some careful searching. You may need to look at the end of the page, or navigate back to the home page of the website. If there is no named author but the work is published by a corporation or government agency, that organization may be named as the author.

Multiple works by the same author

  • When we store our personal data "in the cloud" we may be trading convenience for privacy and security (Pogue, "Curse of the Cloud" 28).

  • Pogue warns that when we store our personal data "in the cloud" we may be trading convenience for privacy and security ("Curse of the Cloud" 28).

If you use more than one source by the same author, include an abbreviated form of the title in addition to the author’s last name (unless already identified in a signal phrase) and page number. Separate the author’s name and the title with a comma if both appear in the parenthetical citation. Italicize the title of longer works like books; use quotation marks for shorter works like articles.

Multiple authors

  • Martin Luther King, Jr. brought civil rights to the forefront of American politics and "changed race relations in America" (Branch and Pillar 345).

  • According to Clark et al., there were 195 reported incidents of zombie attack in 2020, but many more are believed to have gone undocumented (34).

  • Scientists now believe that the government was aware of the vampire menace for years before the public at large (Heberlein et al. 42).

For two authors, name both in the parenthetical citation as above. For three or more authors, include only the first followed by the phrase "et al." (meaning "and others").

Indirect source (a source quoted in another source)

  • Professor Mary-Claire King believes that the only results of genetic tests that should be reported to patients are those that are "devastating and clearly devastating," not results of unknown significance (qtd. in Grady and Pollack A17).

Sometimes you want to quote a quotation that was used by one of your sources. This is known as an indirect source. Use the phrase qtd. in ("quoted in") and the name of the source you consulted, the one appearing in your Works Cited page, in parentheses. Identify the original source of the material in a signal phrase or at the beginning of the parenthetical citation. Or better yet, track down the original source and read it yourself.

Long quotations

  • Vonnegut raises the question of veracity in the opening lines of his novel:

All this happened, more or less. The war parts, anyway, are pretty much true. One guy I knew really was shot in Dresden for taking a teapot that wasn't his. Another guy I knew really did threaten to have his personal enemies killed by hired gunmen after the war. And so on. I've changed all their names. (1)

Quotations more than four lines long (or three lines if it's verse) should be set off with a half-inch indent. When you use a long quotation, the parenthetical citation goes OUTSIDE of the period ending the sentence. There are no quotation marks because the indentation tells the reader that it is a quote. The entire passage should be be double spaced like the rest of the paper. Use long quotations sparingly, and be sure to introduce them and explain their significance.

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